40 Cents for an iPad Sleeve. I Do Not Kid.

Well hello there, friends...Happy Spring!  Sorry I've been MIA from project posts for a few weeks!!  I had to make a scheduled pit stop at my neighborhood hospital earlier this month for a quick, "Kick the tires, check the oil" surgery to make sure my organs were all playing nice with each other.  (They've been known to have knock 'em out fights in the past!)  So, for the past few weeks my brain has been raging with projects while my body has liquefied into a puddle on the couch. 

But now I'm back, and I'm ready to roll!  This week's project was so quick, cheap and silly that it'll probably take you longer to read this post than it will to make your own! 

Dave recently bought a new iPad, and got the magnetic cover at the Apple store that covers just the face of the iPad.  You know, this one?

When he's home, he just keeps that cover on the iPad, but he wants to buy a leather sleeve to protect it while he travels.  He'll keep it in his computer bag, so he doesn't need something heavily padded- just something simple.

Of course I balk at the idea of paying for a simple leather sleeve when I can OBVIOUSLY attempt to make it myself.  Before playing around with leather, though, I needed a prototype.

Sound the trumpets...da da da DAAA!!  Felt.  Just plain old felt.  The 20 cent variety felt you can find in your local craft store...that's all you need!

Here's the process:

First, I cut two pieces of felt into 8"x10.5" rectangles.  Simple enough.

Snip, Snip!

Next, I folded one of the pieces lengthwise, and drew a curve with a marker, and cut along the line.  (This is just to add a nice little cutout to make pulling the iPad out of the sleeve a bit easier).

She's got curves...

Copy the same process on the second piece of felt (you can use the first one as a template for consistency).

Symmetrical, right?

Then, sew your two pieces of felt together along the three straight edges.

Make sure to backstitch your ends for strength!

If you want to (or if your felt pieces aren't 100% even on the edges), trim the edges of your felt close to your seams.

Pop that iPad in, and you're done!  Even though this was my "prototype" for a future leather sleeve, this felt sleeve is great!  If you make one yourself, you could definitely fancy it up by using brightly colored felt, or by adding a pocket on the front to keep your cord in it.  The possibilities are endless!

Less than 10 minutes.  BAM.

Now that I've made the felt sleeve, I'm pretty confident that I can repeat the process with some leather.  I've got one of two options that I'll check out this weekend:

1. Buy a piece of leather at my local specialty fabric store.
2. Buy an old leather jacket at a resale shop.

I'll check out both options and see what's cheaper, and hopefully have a leather sleeve made for Dave's birthday in April.

For now, though, he's got a 40 cent felt sleeve that works just fine! 

So manly.